Of course this means first, that it must be taught. As parents, seeing our little ones grow up and mirror our actions and even our words can be an eye-opening experience. Little by little we tend to shield our kids from the harsh realities of the world.

As they grow, maybe you don’t listen to certain radio stations any more or you don’t watch the news until they go to bed. Eventually, they will hear things and see things that we wish they didn’t have to face. Preparing them for those moments and teaching them to approach each situation with kindness first will go a long way in helping them thrive.

The bottom line is to teach kids to respect the other people, places and things around them and to value the importance of caring for each other.

Here are a few tips to teach children to care and show love to others through their actions:

There comes a day when kids start to ask questions about that man holding a sign at the traffic stop. Or why the baby on that commercial was crying. In these moments, it’s important to teach our children the value of caring for others. And there are opportunities all around us to show compassion.

In today’s busy times, it’s easy to lose perspective on what is most important in life. Sometimes we need a bit of help to put things back in perspective. From this need, an idea was born: FOR ALL YOU LOVE. Through the FOR ALL YOU LOVE campaign, Johnson & Johnson is helping to bring a fresh, uplifting perspective on why love matters. Let’s celebrate the power of love.Join in the conversation here.

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5 Responses to How to teach your kids to care for others

liasays:

May 28, 2013 at 3:47 am

I so much agree with you! With my 3 years old, on top of those (except giving his toys away, which proves difficult as he is only now grasping the concept of property, but I always have him lend a hand when I donate my own stuff), I always offer honnest and age appropriate answers to his questions about poverty, handicaped people, animals, death, the war etc. I use these opportunities to talk about good and bad, about helping or supporting, about not harming etc. Sometimes, things happen that become a tale he wants told again and again, like the time I scolded two kids torturing a cub, or two little girls who turned a turtle on its back and left it there. I also use Christmas and religious holidays to teach him why the greek Santa (Saint Basel) is a saint (he protected and fed orphelins) and how Mary is a mother lending a hand to all mothers and protecting all little children. Not because I am particularly religious, but those stories help him understand that being compasionate is actually something to value. I find storytelling a powerfull tool, along with taking action.

Those are some great ideas. We’ve also decided that, for our kids, we definitely wanted to imbue (as much as possible) a love and genuine interest in helping others.

For one thing, we figured that it’d be one way to (also – as much as possible) avoid sibling battles, as our kids are only 17 months apart. If they both know that it’s their job to help the other and keep the other happy, it can be less the parent’s job to break up fights.

But I also like your focus on folks that help in the community. It’s good, I think, to demonstrate as early as possible that so many of the things we see around us are made possible by the helpful actions of others.

Janinesays:

May 28, 2013 at 1:15 pm

LEAD BY EXAMPLE. Hold the door open for others, offer to return the elderly woman’s the shopping cart at the store, help a stranger clean up a spill or pick up something they dropped… I could go on and on. Ironically these are somehow now seen as “random acts of kindness”. IMO they are just how we should all act.

VOLUNTEER. In your community, in your child’s school, at the local hospital, assisted living facility, library, as a coach, whatever… And explain to your children that you are giving of your time and effort for free because you want to. That seems so obvious, but so many children are not exposed to volunteerism from their parents that they think everyone gets paid for everything! Teach your children to volunteer as well.

Danny's Mommasays:

May 29, 2013 at 5:32 am

These are great. We’ve done all of these with our son (aside from picking up garbage around the neighborhood. We live in a very close knit community and people tend not to litter here, so there isn’t much to pick up). Our son is 5 and he already understands the importance of helping and caring. It hasn’t been that difficult to teach. When he was three we volunteered in an emergency shelter when we were hit with a natural disaster that knocked power out of our state for over a week. He helped me make beds for elderly people and kept their spirits up by talking with them while they ate dinner. I explained to him that even though we didn’t have power either, we were lucky because our house had natural gas so we could still cook on the stove (with the help of a match) and could still take hot showers. So it made him happy to be able to help others who didn’t have the little “luxuries” we did during that time. It made an impact because he still remembers it.

My husband also helped him make a birdhouse and I helped him hang it up in our tree. A family of sparrows moved in and built a nest and I explained to him that because of the house he made, the sparrows would be protected from wind and rain, and could hatch their babies without fear of animals stealing their eggs or harming them. He LOVES seeing “his” birds entering and exiting the house, knowing that they are safe because he helped them.

Elisabethsays:

May 29, 2013 at 1:19 pm

My daughter just turned two. Since she has been born I say “Thank you” for any compliments she gets and also tell her “Say Thank You”. She is pretty much non verbal still, but at night she loves to get and receive Hugs. She now Takes Care of her baby dolls, and I praise her for being a good baby Mommy. In her own way she is learning to be helpful, caring, and have empathy.
I fully expect that our lessons on how to be a Human will get more advanced as she ages. I can’t wait til she can fully understand the concept of giving away some of her older forgotten toys to kids who need them more than she does.

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